Jockey Mike Smith left Pimlico Race Course feeling more frisky than frustrated.
Smith rode Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to a second-place finish just behind favorite Rachel Alexandra Saturday in front of an announced 77,850 at the 134th Preakness Stakes. The runner-up designation left Smith jockeying for a rematch three weeks from now at the Belmont Stakes.
While reflecting on Rachel Alexandra's near wire-to-wire win, Smith essentially called the filly out.
"I bet you they won't run her against him again," Smith said. "I bet you she doesn't run in the Belmont. I can almost predict it."
Asked why he is so sure the filly will avoid the last jewel of the Triple Crown, Smith grinned and said, "It's just an opinion."
Smith added that he would be open to riding Mine That Bird at the Belmont in three weeks. Trainer Chip Woolley has declared that Mine That Bird will run the race and said he welcomes the opportunity to face Rachel Alexandra again.
"Even though she beat us, we're glad we had a run at her," Woolley said. "It was a great horse race and a great showing of ability on all the horses' part. They all ran huge."
Handlers for Rachel Alexandra said they will see how the horse responds to running such a rugged Preakness before making a decision. Although the filly was the heavy favorite and the talk of the week, the trainer and owner shied away from telling the racing world, "I told you so."
Jess Jackson, the filly's owner, in fact, sounded humbled by the race.
"It's good for racing to have champions run against champions," Jackson said. "Either horse could have won. It was great for racing to have them compete. I would have been just as proud to come in second."
That would have been the case, Smith said, if his horse had another 1/16th of a mile.
Just as he did in the Kentucky Derby, Mine That Bird laid far off the pace for much of the race before mounting a furious attack down the stretch.
But unlike the Derby, where Mine That Bird snaked through traffic and hugged the rail for an easy win, the horse did not have as much room to weave. Mine That Bird bumped Flying Private and was caught among several horses along the backstretch before breaking free.
"There was just nowhere to go at one point," Smith said. "He was catching her in the end. If I could have just cut one more corner, who knows what the outcome would have been? But it just wasn't there today like it was in the Derby. They were on top of the fence. I did the best we could do. It was a winning race; we just didn't finish first."
